I can never remember the grammar rule for “lie/lay.” The other day a writer I know said something to me about this; I think the distinction has fully stuck to my slick and porous brain. She said:
“We LAY objects down. But you, as a subject, must LIE down.”
Ever the smart-ass, I said “what about the prayer, ‘now I lay me down to sleep . . .'”.
But she was ready for me. She said “In that sentence ‘me’ is the object, ‘I’ is the subject.”
And the stars twinkled in the sky, and a million angels high-fived me. I think this has finally soaked in.
Also, fuck you, Mrs. Valensky (my eighth grade English teacher). Why couldn’t you make it so simple?!
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